One More Time
by shjoh-charmed
Summary: Complete6605. Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.
1. One More TimeChapter 1

One More Time

By: shjohnso

Chapter 1

PG - 13

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than

death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again?

**This is actually a repost, because I took it out of the script format, and hey—I finished it;) I'm so sorry to anyone who had been reading & I just kind of left you hanging, but someone else had come up with a similar ending, so I had to change it. Then I got writers block, then when I finally came up with something else—it had been so long, so I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to read it anymore. But then I got a few wonderful reviews recently that showed that someone out there is still reading it—along with a nagging push from my friend stony angel:) so I decided to finish. **

Also, I wrote this before any of the events in the 7th season, so I'm splitting off to AU after a Bad Bad World Part 2.

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

A few weeks after Piper was released from the hospital, she noticed that her family seemed to always be tip-toeing around her, as if they thought she would break or something. 'I would think that they would be happy to have a new baby around.' Things had also been going great since Leo had decided to quit his job

as an Elder and devote his time to his new family. Though she didn't quite understand why he also gave up his job as their Whitelighter, especially since they would need a new one now that Chris had gone back to the future.

She finally had enough and decided to ask Leo about why they were all acting so strange.

Piper was lying in bed with her husband just after she put Chris and Wyatt to sleep. Snuggling in his arms, she turned to him quietly, "You know, I miss adult Chris too. But at least he accomplished what he came for and got rewarded for it. When you took him back, was it just how he had imagined it? Beautiful?"

Leo knew that this moment was coming, but he hadn't yet thought of a way to tell her what had really happened to their son. She often wondered where he went late at night, silently grabbing the car keys when he thought she was sleeping. It had been quite an adjustment for him not being able to orb and having to use conventional methods of transportation. But during his late night excursions, he felt he needed to be alone and think about the events that transpired before his youngest son was born. More often than not, he would go to the hill that overlooked the city. It was after all, the highest vantage point that he could manage since being stripped of his orbing abilities.

He allowed the tears for the son that he barely knew, yet still had come to love, fall freely. He felt like a failure as a father because he allowed his fears to overwhelm him—leading to the murder of his youngest son. Taking revenge on Gideon for the act was the only thing that afforded him any comfort for his failings. Leo knew what he did was wrong, but would gladly do it again. It stands to reason that those very thoughts were the cause of the other Elders stripping him of all powers and making him mortal again. But he couldn't help it.

Ever since Phoebe had blurted out that Chris was his son, all he wanted to do was get to know him and protect him, as a father should. When Chris told him that he didn't think that he came to save their relationship, it hurt to know that his son felt abandoned by him. Leo hoped desperately that it was not true, but the look in Chris' watery blue depths told him otherwise. Every time he looked at the tiny bundle with shining green eyes, he vowed silently that he would be a good father to this version of his son.

Piper waved her hand in front of his face. "Leo? Did you hear me?"

Leo was lost in thought as he heard his wife calling his name. He closed his eyes dreading the truth that needed to flow from his lips. When he opened them again, they were full of unshed tears. He took a deep breath and sat up. His voice faltering, "Piper. There's something I need to tell you."

Piper immediately panicked at his words and sat up, "What is it?"

"I didn't take him back—because there was nothing to take back. I didn't tell you how Wyatt was taken. Chris was trying to protect him, but...but Gideon...he stabbed him. He called out to me—but not for himself, but because Gideon was taking Wyatt. Gideon's magic wouldn't allow me to heal him. And he died. I couldn't...save...my son, Piper."

Piper looked like she was in shock for a moment before his words hit her. "Noooo. No, no, no, no---my baby!" Leo tried to wrap his arms around Piper and comfort her, but she ferociously pushed him away and jumped up from the bed. Angry tears streamed down her face as she turned and blasted the dresser on the far side of the room. The destruction woke both children from the nursery, who immediately protested with simultaneous wailing. Piper heard their cries, but was too distraught with her own grief to attempt to comfort them.

Leo jumped off the bed and went to console the frightened children.

Phoebe and Paige came rushing in when they heard the crash. They stopped at the intense anger their sister was directing at them.

Piper hissed at them, "You. Knew. Didn't you? How could you all keep something like that from me. MY SON WAS MURDERED, and you thought it wasn't IMPORTANT enough for me to know!"

Paige was in tears by this point, but still tried to explain, "Piper, that's not why we didn't tell you. You were dying in the hospital and we didn't think you needed any more stress..."

"You had NO RIGHT to keep it from me. Just GET OUT! Leave me the hell alone before I do something I'll regret later."

Leo treaded timidly back into the bedroom after quieting the children. "Piper, please don't be mad at them. I asked them not to tell you because I didn't want anything to happen to you or the baby. But please—forgive me. I didn't do it to hurt you."

Piper glared at him, "Did you NOT hear me? I said leave me alone—now!"

Leo hung his head down defeated as he stepped over the broken dresser and into the hallway. He winced as he heard the door slamming shut behind him.

At the bottom of the stairs, he sat with his in-laws as they listened to Piper's frantic pacing before she succumbed to her own exhausted sobs.

Phoebe reached for his hand, "Give her time, Leo. We'll help her through this. We just need to give her some time."

Over the course of the next few months, the Charmed Ones endured their oldest sister's bouts of hysterical crying one moment, and uncontrolled rage the next. Though the rage seemed to last longer when she found out that Gideon was already dead. She wanted to resurrect him so that she could kill him again. And again. And again. And again.

Piper didn't seem to level out her behavior and return to her normal self until a special visit by Grams.

"Sweetheart, you've got to calm yourself. You have two beautiful children who need their mother to raise them. You can't go on like this."

"I know, Grams. It's just so hard because he gave up everything for his family, including his own life. And to know that he didn't even get to reap the rewards of his sacrifices? That he just ceased to exist as he was? That's not fair! And there's nothing I can do about it. You of all people know what it's like to be a mother, and not be able to protect your own child from harm. I feel so helpless. And you know how I hate not being in control."

Penny tenderly grabbed her chin to make Piper look up, "No, it's not fair, Honey. But you're right. You can't fix it. And the only way for you to be in control is to recognize the sacrifice he made for all of you. Honor him by living your life the way you always have. Be the mother that he knew and loved to those darling little boys you have."

Piper had been having difficulty adjusting ever since her husband had broken the news to her. But now as she looked into her Grandmother's eyes, she realized that she was right. She didn't want her boys to grow up hating her for her rash and unpredictable behavior. She knew that in order to give her boys the life they deserved, she would first have to learn to forgive herself for not protecting him. And then by forgiving her family for trying to do the same for her.

That night at dinner, Piper apologized for her uncharacteristic behavior over the past several months. She forgave, and was forgiven. But most importantly, she had begun to heal.

Nearly seven months after Chris' birth, the three Charmed sisters are in the attic fighting off a very unlucky demon.

Piper flexed her fingers and tried to blow him up, but he shimmered away too quickly.

Moments later, he reappeared on the other side of the attic with an athame in his hand. He swiped at Paige, but she managed to duck. She wasn't fast enough, and felt her arm go limp as the knife sliced through vital nerves and tendons.

As the demon was distracted with trying to finish off the wounded witch, Phoebe levitated and kicked the athame out of his hand. He spun around and backhanded her just as Piper got a fix on him and blew him to ashes.

Piper and Phoebe walked over to their sister and helped her over to the couch.

Paige grimaced at the pain in her arm, "Damn. I wish the other Elder's hadn't stripped Leo of his powers. I could do with some healing right now."

Phoebe examined the wound closely, "Sweetie, this is really deep. I think we need to get you to the hospital."

Piper sighed, "I'll call Leo and tell him where we're going." She turned and looked upward, "LEO!"

Paige looked at her oldest sister sadly, "Honey, that's why we got him a cell phone. He can't hear us anymore."

Piper rolled her eyes and blew out a frustrated breath, "Yeah right. I keep forgetting. I'm just so used to calling him that way. DAMN THEM!"

Even without being an active empath anymore, Phoebe knew that she would have to say something to placate her sister's fiery temper at the Elder's actions. "Piper, at least something good came out of the Elder's making Leo mortal again..."

Piper glared at her, "What?"

Phoebe tried to reason, "You've got your husband back—full time. Both of your children will get to know their father, and you'll get to grow old with him."

The oldest sister snorted angrily. "And they've also put him in more danger! He's completely human with no defensive powers or ability to orb—in a house full of demons constantly attacking no less!" Angrily, she flipped open her cell phone and hit the speed dial number for her husband.

Leo stared strangely at his new phone screen when it id' his wife's number, as she didn't normally call him during his bonding time with the boys. He answered on the second ring, "What's up, Piper"

Piper heard the worried tone in his voice and immediately tried to relieve him, "Don't worry, we're ok." Knowing that cell phone lines weren't completed secure, they had made up codes to inform the others of "unusual" activity. "Paige slipped on one of the "floorboards" in the attic, and got cut on a "nail." We're going to take her to the hospital to go get stitches."

From her coded words, he understood that to mean that Paige was injured in a demonic attic seriously enough to warrant medical intervention. Leo shifted the children in his arms as he replied, "I'm coming home right now."

Piper: "No, no. You keep the boys out and have a good time. We'll be fine. We're just gonna...Oh my"

Leo: "Piper? Piper? What's going on?"

Piper: "Uh, I'll call you back..." Without waiting for a response, she hurriedly ended the call.

In the park, Leo was starting to panic. He had heard the swooshing sounds in the background, as well as the sharp intake of Piper's breath just before his wife hung up the phone. He quickly bundled the youngest Halliwell in his carrier and reached for Wyatt's hand. "Come on buddy, your Mommy may need help."

Walking behind a bush where no one could see, he asked for Wyatt's help to orb. "Wy? Can you take us to Mommy and Aunt Phoebe and Paige? They need us right now..."

Wyatt looked at him strangely and snatched his hand form his father's, "Daaah!"

Leo let out a disappointed sigh as his son petulantly stomped over to the jeep, reaching for the door handle. "I guess that's a no."

Piper placed her hand over her mouth as she saw the glowing triquetra on the attic wall. A familiar figure stepped through grinning mischievously. "I heard you guys are in need of a Whitelighter?"

Piper gasped in shock before yelling out, "Chris!" She ran over excitedly and wrapped her arms around him, punctuating each word with a kiss, "Oh. My. Baby. I. Thought. you. were. dead."

Phoebe and Paige screeched when they saw him, but stood back to let his mother welcome him first. When Piper finally released him, Phoebe and Paige immediately grabbed to hug him as well.

Though Chris was just as happy to see them, he pried his aunts from him and reached for Paige's arm. He spoke as he held his hand over it, "Here. Let me get that for you."

Piper said incredulously, "You can heal! But, how? I thought it wasn't possible for you?"

Chris said proudly, "This time around, I had a father who cared enough to teach me." Looking around the room, he asked distractedly, "Speaking of, where is Dad, and me for that matter?"

Piper answered offhandedly, "He took the boys out for an afternoon in the park."

Phoebe ignored his question and gave him a playful punch on the arm, "I knew you didn't die. I knew you just went back after you faded away. Is it beautiful? How about my baby? Is it a girl or boy?"

Chris looked down and shuddered, avoiding his mother's eyes. "I did die." Walking over to stare out of the window, he absently crossed his arms. "I felt myself slipping away. Could faintly hear Dad telling me stay with him, but I just couldn't. When everything got dark, I was scared of dying. But mostly, I was afraid of failing in the one thing I came to do."

Piper felt her heart breaking at his admission. She padded softly over to him and took his face in her hands, "Oh, Sweetie, But you did it! You saved your brother and the future. I'm so proud of you."

Chris looked away as his eyes welled up, "But that just it, Mom. I didn't. Some things changed, but not Wyatt. That's why I'm here now—I failed. How can you ever be proud of me. I didn't accomplish anything. All I did was to let everyone down. "

"Chris, you could never let us down." Piper looked to her sisters who both nodded emphatically.

"You don't understand, Mom. It's my fault. I'm the reason Wyatt turned. I did this to him..."

"No Chris, I don't believe that. So you're right, I do NOT understand. I think you need to start from the beginning."

"When I died, I didn't feel anything anymore. I expected others to be waiting for me, but there was no one. And after a while of waiting, only Clarence came..."

Phoebe interrupted, "Wait, the janitor Clarence?"

"He was never a real janitor. He was an Angel of Death. He said before—you know when I almost erased myself—was because I was a special case and was going to die outside of my time. Well anyway, he said that I needed to go back to the future and see what I had done. He wasn't mad or anything, and he never really explained where I was during that time. Just that I had to go back. When I got there, nothing much had changed. I had some new memories, but that's about it."

Paige poked her chin out in confusion, "But you remembered both time lines?"

"Yeah. And that was really hard to reconcile both sets of memories with the other. It felt like I had two different people in my head all of the time. I thought I was going crazy. So if I don't get it right this time, I'll probably be pretty comfortable in a loony bin."

Piper recalled the incident when she herself was classified as insane. She shivered unconsciously, "Oh no. I know what that's like. I will not have you going through that."

The former empath scratched her head, still not getting the gist of his statement. "But how is Wyatt turning your fault?"

"Because," he began in frustration, "_apparently_—I've done this before. Did Dad tell you his theory of why Wyatt turned?"

Piper huffed, as this was still a sore spot for her. "Yes. Eventually."

"Well, he was on the right track when he thought that the trauma of Gideon trying to kill him is what turned Wyatt evil. But it wasn't quite accurate. It was actually the trauma of seeing Gideon--_kill me_."

Understanding dawned in Piper's eyes as she stuttered "But...But, that would mean..."

Chris interrupted her thought process, "That he has already started to turn? Yes."

"How do you know all this?" Phoebe asked with an air of suspicion.

"Because when I went back, I knew where to look this time. I still had my memories of my time here, and that Gideon was somehow responsible. When I was first here, Wyatt eventually came to like me. Trust me. Depend on me even. Look, Wyatt is "special". He is more perceptive than any other two-year old because he's twice blessed. And because of that fact—even at his age, Wyatt knew he was vulnerable because Gideon pierced his shield. He was depending on me that day to protect him. But then I got myself killed right in front of him and he lost faith in everything. Everything except that only the most powerful are the ones who survive. It wasn't real noticeable when we were kids, except for the occasional personal gain things. It wasn't until, well I guess you already know, but after Mom died, that he kind of lost it completely."

"What do you mean he lost it?" his mother asked hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer.

"He started with the power trip. He said that as powerful as you were, you still couldn't save yourself because you couldn't allow yourself to be "free", as he put it."

"Free?"

Though Phoebe posed the question, Chris answered Piper. "You never let the "evil" consume you. Didn't embrace both the good and the dark sides of yourself. He said that wasn't going to happen to him. So he did embrace them—and started terrorizing everyone and everything in his path that refused to be like him. And the rest, as they say, is history. Or I guess in your case, future?"

Paige finally spoke after digesting the information, "So what are we gonna do?"

Chris looked at her honestly, "I don't know. I haven't figured that part out yet." Just as he finished his sentence, Leo burst into the attic door prepared to fight if necessary. Chris smiled at him warmly, "Hi Dad. Long time no see."

TBC...


	2. One More TimeChapter 2

One More Time - Chapter 2

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Leo charged through the attic door brandishing a baseball bat, which he promptly dropped when he saw who was standing next to his wife. His eyes rolled back in his head as he started to fall.

"Oh!" Piper quickly flicked her wrists at Leo and froze him halfway down.

Chris looked worriedly at his mom.

Phoebe decided to explain, "Um, yeah. He's been doing that a lot lately."

Paige added helpfully, "He's not really used to being human again, and any shock just knocks him flat on his a..."

Piper cut her off and yelled, "PAIGE!"

"What do you mean being human again?"

Piper flailed her arms, "Never mind, just go catch him before he unfreezes."

Chris rushed over to encircle Leo in his arms. Seconds after he reached for him, Leo unfroze and stared into the bright-blue eyes he had been mourning for months. Unable to believe his own eyes, he touched his son's face, "Chris?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's really me."

Leo looked at him for a few more seconds before coming to his senses and believed what his eyes told him. His son was alive. He grabbed him into a bear hug and held on tight.

Piper cleared her throat after a few minutes, "Leo? You're smothering the boy. And speaking of boys, what did you do with my other two?"

The father of two remarked absently, unable to tear his eyes away from the adult version of his youngest son that stood before him. "I ran into Sheila on the way in and she took them."

Scrunching up her nose warily, Paige wasn't fond of the situation. "Are you sure that's a good idea? What's Darryl going to say?"

Leo grinned, "She said that he'll just have to live with it since now we're apparently just "her" friends. Besides, she couldn't turn her new little godson away." He stood up still grasping Chris' hand. He asked quietly, "Chris, what happened? I watched you die. How can this be?"

"I guess I should've waited on the explanations?" He stared at his father's glistening eyes. Seeing him now, looking so vulnerable, made him feel terrible for what Leo had to go through with watching his son die and not being able to do anything about it. He decided to spare him the exact details of his demise and gave him the abbreviated version. "I did die, but Clarence was waiting for me and sent me to the future. I stayed there long enough to see that not much had changed, including Wyatt. But you changed, Dad. I couldn't ask for a better father. You even taught me how to heal."

Leo asked shyly, "I did?"

Chris clapped him on the back, "You did."

The joy Leo felt at Chris' admission was short lived and his face fell, "But if I was such a good father--what happened to Wyatt? Why is he still evil?"

Chris replied sadly, "It wasn't you, Dad. It was me. I caused him to turn and give up on anything but survival of the most powerful."

Leo raised his eyebrow in confusion, "What do you mean? How could you have done this to him?"

"I got myself killed right in front of him, just when he was depending on me to protect him."

Piper spoke up, "Then actually Chris, it was me--since it was my death that set him off."

He lowered his head despondently, the mop of shaggy brown hair shielding his eyes. "Yes, but I planted the ticking time bomb in him that was just waiting to go off. It could have been any of us that was the last straw."

Leo spun around with a sudden realization. "Wait, but you already died. So are you saying that he has already turned?"

"In a way, yes. It's started to change him, but there's still time, or they wouldn't have sent me back."

"Who's they?"

"I don't know. But they sent me to the future first to see what I had changed before coming here."

Leo looked determined not to fail his son this time, finally getting the opportunity "Well then we have to go back and stop you from dying."

"I don't think we can. Or at least, I can't. They didn't send me back to before I died because I--well, the other me--was already here. Something about there not being three of us in the same time line."

Phoebe commented, "But there would only be two since you hadn't been born yet."

Chris practically whined, "But I still existed in mom. As it was, I had to share my powers with my baby self. I don't think it would have worked with the three of us."

Paige decided to point out helpfully, "But you only had orbing and telekinesis to begin with, and you had those before you were born. Whoa! That sounded kind of weird."

Chris raised an eyebrow at his aunt before giving her his trademark cheshire grin. "I never said that was all of them. Remember, when I first came back here--I was still trying to hide them from you. And after Mom got pregnant, I figured out that I couldn't use any of my other powers." Turning to Piper, "And by the way--please don't be mad when I accidentally set fire to Wyatt's hair when I turn five."

Piper crossed her arms and glared at her youngest. 

Everyone's confused expressions demanded further explanations and Chris was only too happy to oblige. "Ok. Let me show you." He surveyed around the room and found a broken table in the corner. He focused intently on it just before it burst into flames.

Paige jumped up startled and called for the kitchen fire extinguisher.

Piper was just as startled and flicked her wrists to freeze it. She turned to Chris with her hands on her hips, "Are you crazy!"

Chris held up his hands in defense, "Just watch." He flicked his wrists one time, and unfroze Piper's work.

Piper scratched her head and seemed rather perturbed, "Did you just unfreeze my freeze? And the table is still on fire, Chris. Did you plan to burn down the manor?"

Chris ignored her and closed his eyes. He felt around in his mind for the fire. Within seconds, the flames shrank back down and dissipated.

Leo's eyes widened, "How did you do that?"

Chris grinned smugly, "Which part?"

Paige rolled her eyes jokingly, "Show off! Well let's start from the beginning. Like how you started the fire in the first place?"

"With my whitelighter senses. I can see the object at a molecular level if I choose. Then I use telekinesis to move the particles around until they combust. I just do it in reverse to make them die back down."

The eldest witch still seemed annoyed that someone had undone her work. "And the unfreeze?"

Chris shrugged, "I don't know. I've just always thought that your powers copied themselves exactly to me when I was born. Because as far as I know-- at least from the new memories from the future--I was always able to react to your powers and you to mine."

Paige nodded her head appreciatively, "So you can freeze, huh?"

"Yes. It came in real handy a few times when Wyatt threw energy balls at me."

Phoebe gasped in surprise, "You mean when he was little?"

Chris scoffed, "No, I mean last week. He wasn't too happy about me coming back here and "meddling in his destiny" as he calls it."

The youngest Charmed sister tilted her head in curiosity. "So your powers work on each other?"

"Yeah."

She pouted a response, "Ours don't."

"Actually, yours probably can too."

Paige looked a bit excited, "Really? How?"

Piper scolded her, "Why are you asking?"

Paige crossed her arms defensively, "I'm just curious, OK?" Resuming her excitement, she turned back to Chris, "So how?"

Chris looked down at the floor sadly, "Break the sibling bond. That's how Wyatt did it. Once he saw me as just another obstacle in his quest for power, our powers suddenly worked against each other. They didn't used to. It was like that in both timelines."

Piper walked up and tried to comfort him by stroking his back soothingly, "We'll fix it this time."

Chris smiled wistfully, "Yeah. If I don't end up getting killed this time around..."

TBC...


	3. One More TimeChapter 3

One More Time - Chapter 3

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Brushing her hand over his gently, Piper suggested, "Leo, why don't you go over and get the boys from Sheila, then we'll work out a plan to fix this."

Chris held up is his palm, "Wait, you still didn't tell me why you think Dad is human again?"

"The other Elders stripped his powers when he killed Gideon." Paige answered simply.

Chris spun around quickly to face Leo, "You killed him? Why?"

Leo stared at the wall with a hardened glared before he replied, "Because he killed my son. And I would gladly do it again."

Chris looked a little stunned, but smiled hesitantly, "Thanks Dad."

Piper grumbled at her husband, "You could have left something for me." Turning to Chris, "They wouldn't let me use the time spell to have my shot at Gideon."

Phoebe saw that her eldest sister was getting angry, as this was still a sore spot for her. "Easy, Piper. Think happy thoughts. And the happiest one of all is that now--you've got him back!"

Piper gave her smile that didn't really touch her eyes.

Phoebe clapped her hands together to ease the tension hovering in the air, "Ok. Back to Leo's power--or lack thereof. The Elders made him human again, Chris. He can't orb. He can't heal (and they refuse to give us another whitelighter who can by the way). And he can't hear us when we call." Pulling out her cell phone, "Unless of course we call him on this neat little invention."

Chris shook his head, "No, that's not possible. When I went back to the future, I clearly remember Dad orbing and healing. And besides, he couldn't have taught me how to heal if he hadn't been a Whitelighter."

"Do you think it's possible for him to get them back?"

"I don't think Dad can loose them. Sure, he can get demoted from an Elder back to a Whitelighter; but loose them altogether--I don't think so. I mean, it's in his DNA."

Piper huffed in frustration, "You're not making any sense."

Chris turned to Leo, "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but when you become a full Whitelighter, you have to die and be brought back as one. Right?"

Leo nodded, but was still obviously confused where his son was going, "Yeah."

"Well, in order to do that, they have to add, whatever it is that makes a Whitelighter, to the DNA…" He looked around waiting for everyone to catch on to what he was saying.

Paige snickered to Phoebe, "Hmm. I think I know where he got the name "Perry" from. He thinks he's Perry Mason…"

Chris just rolled his eyes as the three sisters shared a laugh at his expense.

Leo snapped his fingers as it dawned on him what his son was saying, "But he's right! I can't believe we didn't think of it before…"

Piper cocked her head to the side and tapped her foot, "Uh, We?"

Leo let out a small laugh to avoid agitating her further, "Uh, I mean, ME. "I" should have thought of it before. But he's right. And once you alter the DNA, it can't go back to what it once was! That's how he and Paige are half-whitelighter! It's in their DNA!"

Paige's eyes widened as she too caught on, "so it's still in Leo, right? They must have just bound his powers somehow!"

Phoebe's wheels started spinning with the thought, "Then perhaps the Power of Three can unbind them." She looked to her sisters for agreement.

Paige shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Leo pointed upwards, "Even if it works, They're still not going to let me back up there."

Paige slapped his back, "That's ok. You can just be a rebel like the rest of us Halliwells."

Leo grinned, "I think I can live with that."

Piper nodded, hoping to cement the idea in his head. "Well that's good. Because as hectic as our lives are, my children need both of their parents to give them some stability."

Leo walked over and took both of her hands. He gazed into her eyes and pronounced sincerely, "I know that now, Piper. I love you and our children so much. These last few months of being together--as a family, have meant so much to me. And I couldn't bear to be apart from it ever again." He took his thumb and wiped a tear from her cheek before he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

Chris turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose, while Paige turned and pretended to study her fingernails. Phoebe on the other hand, stared at the couple and scrunched her face up excitedly, "Awwwe. Look at the little love birds…."

Paige grabbed the reluctant Empath and turned her to face the opposite wall.

Several long moments later, Chris looked back again and elbowed Paige as he whispered, "They're still at it…"

Paige turned around to face them as she cleared her throat several times. "Eh em. EH EM. Ok. I get it, you don't do subtle. GET A ROOM, YOU TWO!"

Piper and Leo broke off looking very embarrassed and flushed.

Leo shifted a bit uncomfortably, "Uh, Piper--Why don't you go and get the boys?"

His comment sparked a bit of curiosity in her. "Why? What are you going to do?"

Leo let out a whistle and walked past them toward the door, "I'm going to go take a shower."

Chris chuckled, "Yeah, _a cold one_, I bet."

Paige feigned a cough to cover up her laugh when Piper glared at him.

"Paige, Phoebe--work on that spell to get Leo's powers back. Chris, why don't you come with me to get the boys? I'm sure Sheila will love seeing her godson again." Then she added to as payback for laughing at them, "Without having to change his messy diaper."

Chris threw his palm up to cover his face.

Satisfied that Chris was sufficiently embarrassed, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the door, "Come on, you."

Walking up to the house, Piper pushed Chris aside. "Wait here in the bushes until I say it's ok. Darryl said he dropped the charges after, you know, but I don't want him to change his mind. I'm pretty sure it's safe since he's supposed to be out of town on some convention. But just wait for my signal, ok?" Chris nodded as she rang the doorbell. "Hi…How are my two little angels?"

Sheila gave her a hug, "Hi yourself. Oh, they're fine. Only you're oldest "angel" hasn't quite been an angel lately."

"What do you mean? Where is he?"

"He's upstairs "watching" Chris. Come in, I'll explain. Don't worry, Darryl's in Chicago for a seminar this week--so he won't be grunting around the house while we talk this time."

"Ok, but before I do--I was wondering. How do you feel about your new little godson?"

Sheila looked perplexed, "What do you mean? I adore the little guy…"

Piper tried to feel out her mood without an outright explanation. "Well, how would you feel if he--I don't know--suddenly started talking or something?"

Sheila laughed heartily. "Then I'd say he's a very smart little boy since he's only 7 months old."

"But, you wouldn't have a problem with it? Or mention it to Darryl?"

Sheila tilted her head suspiciously, "With your family? No. Come to think of it--it wouldn't be too odd either. Now come in here."

Satisfied with her answers, Piper hesitated before entering. "Ok. Mind if I bring a friend?"

Sheila smiled and looked past Piper to see who she was referring to, "Sure. Where are they?"

Chris popped his head up from the bushes, "Right here, Aunt Sheila."

Sheila's eyes widened as she bounded down the steps and enveloped him in a hug. She turned quickly and grabbed both of their hands to lead them into the house. "I can't believe that you are that sweet little baby upstairs in the playpen."

Chris took mock offence, "Why is that?"

Sheila teased, "Because you're so mischievous."

Chris grinned, "So is he. You just don't know it yet."

Sheila seemed to remember something, "But Darryl told me that you…"

Chris knew that she was referring to his death, "Yeah. I did. But apparently, some of us Halliwell's don't stay that way."

Piper immediately headed for the kitchen. "How about I make some tea. I know where everything is. We've got a lot to talk about...

Sitting down at the kitchen table, Piper was pouring more tea for Sheila, who looked more than a little bit disturbed at their narrative. "So nothing changed?"

Chris sat up on the kitchen counter and shook his head sadly, "Not really. Except, I did learn how to heal this time around."

Sheila pointed her finger and scolded him, "Hey! Get off of there! We have chairs for that, you know!"

Chris almost tripped jumping down. He grabbed one of the chairs and grinned sheepishly as Sheila continued to watch him like a hawk.

Piper smirked, "Wow! She sure told you, didn't she?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time. I can't even count how many times Aunt Sheila fussed at me for that or something along those lines."

Sheila cocked her head to the side, "Was I always your Godmother?"

"Yep," Chris answered proudly. "In both timelines, as a matter of fact. And Darryl has always been my Godfather. I know he wanted to arrest me--but he'll get over it. He always does."

Piper shifted the topic again. "So, back to Wyatt. What did you mean earlier?"

Sheila leaned in conspiratorially, "Well, for one thing, he's been acting strange all day. And just about every other time I have both him and the baby, for that matter."

Chris' eyes widened nervously, "Strange how?"

"He won't go near the baby. He just stands on the opposite side of the room and glares at him--I mean you."

"Just say the baby. It's confusing enough as it is. You can just call me Chris."

"You don't think he would hurt him do you?"

"Oh no, no. I don't get that feeling at all from him, or else I wouldn't have left Robbie watching them by himself. He just does little "not so nice" things to baby Chris."

"I'm his mother, and I've never seen him do anything. Like what?"

"Like when Leo brought him over, and I am sorry Chris--but the baby had a messy diaper and I had to change it. But as soon as I got him cleaned up in a fresh one, Wyatt orbed him right back into his dirty diaper. And let me tell you that even though only seven months old, he has a set of lungs on him…."

Piper nodded, "Umm hmm. I know about that scream. The first time I heard it myself, I thought Phoebe had turned back into a Banshee."

"And overall, he just seems to be more irritable. He won't let me hug him, or pick him up, or anything else that he used to like me doing. I sat down to fix him lunch, and he wouldn't touch it. He just glared at it like he thought it was poison or something. And I fixed his favorite, so I know that wasn't it."

Piper sounded hopeful, "Maybe he was just in a bad mood?"

Chris scoffed, "Yeah--one that lasts for the next 23 years."

"But you won't believe what happened next. I left him alone for a bit to see if he was just uncomfortable eating with me here, and he orbed the food into the trash. Then he climbed down, orbed over to the cabinet, and started eating the peanut but straight from the jar. I just left him to eat it since he seemed to be hungry and he wouldn't touch anything I gave him."

Piper scrunched up her face in mock anger, "Then he's probably a mess right now."

Sheila shook her head in astonishment, "No. When I came back--true, he was covered from head to toe in peanut butter. But when I went to pick him up & told him that he was going to have to get a bath--he orbed himself into the shower and shut the door. He came back out clean, though."

Chris sighed, "You see? It's starting already. He doesn't trust anyone to take care of him anymore. And that's because of me."

Sheila patted his back, "It's not your fault, Chris. We'll just have to find a way to gain his trust back. And then maybe he won't give up."

He was just about to respond when they all heard a blood curdling scream from upstairs. His face drained of all color as he whispered, "…Wyatt…"

Piper shared the reaction, "…Chris…"

Sheila looked terror stricken, "…Robbie…"

In a panic, he grabbed both of their hands and orbed them to the upper level, unsure of what they'd find.

TBC...


	4. One More TimeChapter 4

One More Time - Chapter 4

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Orbing upstairs in a panic, Chris, Piper and Sheila froze at what they saw. Or rather, what they didn't see.

All three children were backed against a corner with Wyatt's protective bubble surrounding them. Robbie, a child of about eight years old, was protectively holding the screaming seven month old Christopher, while Wyatt stood in front of them as he glared at the shield that seemed to be rippling on its own.

The older boy cried out when he saw his mother and aunt enter the room. "Mommy help! There's something there!"

The desperate cry from her child made Sheila step forward, but Piper and Chris both held her back.

Piper raised her hands to try to blow up whatever was attacking them. Frustrated, she called out, "I don't see it! But something is there. His shield is moving like someone is touching it."

Chris poised his hands to move it telekinetically, "Neither do I."

Wyatt's concentration faltered when he heard Chris' voice and turned in his direction, momentarily collapsing the shield. He turned back immediately and raised it again.

"Chris--Get out of here, you're distracting him. Take Sheila with you, I'll handle this."

Chris started to protest, "But.."

Piper yelled , "GO!" Feeling the other woman's eyes on her, she spoke not taking her eyes of the children, "Sheila--I won't let anything happen to Robbie. I promise. You can help more if I don't have to worry about you getting hurt. Now please--Just go and get my sisters."

Chris reluctantly grabbed Sheila's arm and orbed them back over to the manor to get the others.

"Wyatt? Honey, I know you can see it. Show momma where it is so I can blow it up."

Wyatt pointed to the left side of the shield and Piper flicked her wrists. She wasn't sure if she had blown up anything until Wyatt suddenly pointed to the right side of the shield. Spinning quickly, she flexed her hands several times until she heard a howling.

Chris orbed Sheila back to the attic where Phoebe and Paige were flipping through the Book of Shadows. Sheila ran over to them as soon as her feet hit the floor, "Something's attacking the children! Mom stayed with them. Wyatt is holding whatever it is back with his shield."

The sisters dropped what they were doing and grabbed a few potions off of the table. Paige addressed her friend, "Sheila, stay here with Leo. They'll be ok." She ran to the door and yelled downstairs, "LEO!"

Leo came running up the stairs a little out of breath as he was not used to running, "What's wrong?"

Paige and Phoebe spoke at the same time, "Something's attacking the boys. Stay here with Sheila."

Seeing that he made no move to join them, Paige prompted him anxiously, "Chris, let's go."

"I can't. Just go, I'll explain later."

Nodding, the sisters orbed out to Piper's side.

Chris put his arm around Sheila to comfort her, "Don't worry Aunt Sheila, nothings going to happen to him."

Sheila looked distraught, "But how do you know?"

Chris smiled, "I'm from the future, remember? Besides, I grew up with Robbie. And you are going to be looking forward to me and him getting into trouble a lot."

His father questioned, "Why didn't you go? You still have your powers right?"

"Yeah, but I was distracting Wyatt. He almost lost the shield when he heard me in the room."

Sheila's eyes darted around nervously, replaying the scene in her mind. "What was that thing anyway?"

"I don't know." Looking to Leo, "It was invisible and we couldn't see where to hit it. Ringing any bells, Dad?"

Leo bit his lip as he mentally scanned through all of the possibilities in his head. Shaking his head, "Nothing."

"Shouldn't we help them? I can't stand just sitting here waiting like this."

The boy's shoulders sank depressively, wishing that he could re-join the action instead of waiting idly by. "Join the club."

Leo took her hand and led her to the couch, "Actually, I think we'd do more harm than good right now. We'd just get in their way and give them more to worry about. But don't worry, Chris is right. Piper won't let anything happen to your son."

"Its not just him I'm worried about. My godchildren are up there too."

"She'll keep them safe too. And when the three of them get together, they'll kick its ass for messing with our children."

Despite the situation, Sheila laughed a bit and appreciated Leo's attempts to easy her worry.

The former Elder tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but it just didn't seem to make sense to him. "I don't understand. Why are they attacking now? I mean, demons have been attacking the Charmed Ones as usual, but in the seven months since you've been born, they've left the boys alone."

Chris cocked his head to the side and looked at his father inquisitively, "What? Do you think its Wyatt?"

Leo raised his eyebrow, "_He's two_, Chris. I don't think he could coordinate a strike yet."

Chris rolled his eyes in return, "I meant "MY" Wyatt. He wasn't too pleased when I did it again."

"So he was pretty angry, huh?"

"Angry isn't quite the word I would use. More like, um, homicidal? The point is, I wouldn't put it past him to try and have me killed before I become a threat to him. Especially since he couldn't talk any sense into me, as he put it."

"But why would he risk hurting himself?"

"I don't know. I'm just running some theories right now, since me or Dad didn't recognize it. I know a good part of what's in that book, and I don't remember coming across anything like it. And since Dad didn't know of it, I thought it might be from the future."

"Well if it's from the future, wouldn't you have likely come across it before?" Sheila speculated.

Her godson answered quickly, "Not necessarily. Wyatt's very smart, by the way. Kind of like a mad scientist--only without the scientist part. You know, he was always creating some new demon or technology to do his bidding." He added with admiring quality to his voice, "Some of it quite ingenious actually."

Tired of waiting on the outcome while her son was in danger, Sheila stood up abruptly prepared to march back over to her house. "I can't wait anymore. My baby needs me."

Leo followed her lead and held his hand out for his son expectantly. "Ditto. Let's get over there. Chris--orb us."

Chris shook his head, "Not me. I'm not incurring mom's wrath."

Leo glared at him before running out of the room and bounding down the steps; Sheila hot on his heels.

Chris looked around the empty attic. Not wanting to be left out, he ran after them.

Minutes before, Paige and Phoebe orbed to Robbie's room just in time to hear a thunderous howling. Standing next to Piper, they were all thrown to the floor when something they couldn't see barreled into them.

Paige cried out sharply when she felt a large claw dig into her arm in it's desperate attempt to flee.

Phoebe scrambled to get up and go after it when they heard it crash through one of the first floor windows. She stopped as Piper called her back.

"Let it go, Phoebes. Just for now. We can't fight what we can't see. We'll come up with a way to track it later." She helped Paige up then went over to the children, "Wy? Honey? It's safe now. You can put your shield down."

Glancing around suspiciously, Wyatt blinked a few times before he lowered the shield. Piper immediately grabbed him in a hug, "You did real good protecting them, I'm so proud of you, sweetie!"

Wyatt pushed her away and walked out of the room.

Piper was taken aback by his strange behavior. A hurt look flashed across her face briefly before she put on a smile again and went over to Robbie. Hugging him as well, "Robbie, honey. You are so brave. How can I ever thank you for keeping my baby safe."

Robbie smiled shyly as if nothing had happened, "It's ok, Aunt Piper. How about some ice cream?" He leaned in whispered to her, "Mommy won't let me have it in the daytime. Can I have it in the daytime?"

Piper stood up and kissed him on the top of his head, "You've got yourself a deal, mister."

Leo reached the front steps of the house when Sheila pushed past him to enter. "Robbie!"

Robbie called to her from upstairs, "We're ok mom."

Shocked to see him standing there by himself, Sheila paused and looked up at Wyatt standing at the top of the stairs holding onto the banister. Leo and Chris slammed into her at the abrupt halt, causing all three to fall forward.

Chris was the first to get up and cautiously walked up the steps toward Wyatt. As he approached, Wyatt raised his shield.

Chris spoke quietly to the child, "Wyatt, come on. You know I won't hurt you. It's me--Chris." He moved forward again.

The boy backed up slightly as Chris got closer, eventually backing up against the wall. When Chris got as close as he could with the shield, Wyatt's eyes flashed with blue orbs, warning him away.

Piper was surprised at his behavior and tried to talk to him, "Wyatt? It's ok. He's your brother. No one is going to hurt you." She gasped as he turned and flashed the orbs at her. "Is that what you used to do to all of my dates?"

With all of the adults closing in on him, the two year old panicked. His eyes grew wide just before he lowered his shield and orbed away.

Leo reached the top of the stairs at that point, "Where did he go?"

TBC...


	5. One More TimeChapter 5

One More Time - Chapter 5

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Leo was now frantic, "Where did he go? Damn, I can't sense him. I can't loose him again…"

Phoebe tried to sooth him, "Easy, Leo. We'll find him. He probably didn't go far. He's just scared."

Piper whispered, "But that thing is still out there. And he's unprotected by himself. Chris?"

Chris was already prepared, "I'm on it, Mom. I'm trying to sense for him now. It should be easy since he's so emotional right now. Everyone be quite!"

He closed his eyes in concentration, then opened them in surprise as he realized where the toddler was.

Piper was shifting on her feet anxiously, "Did you find him?"

Chris opened his mouth to speak, a little dumbfounded, "Yeah. He's at the Magic School."

Paige walked up cradling her bloody arm, "Why would he go there? I mean, that's where Gideon was, and after--you know. It just doesn't make sense."

Chris noticed her arm and went to heal it, "Let me get that for you."

Paige was glad to have him back and enjoyed the playful banter they used to share. She decided to start it all over again, "This seems to be becoming a habit. What is it, now that you can heal--every demon in the world is going to attack me? Just so that you can use your new little "healing touch"?"

Chris laughed, "Yeah, Paige. I purposely planned it that way. I have some global order out stating that every demon that attacks you--simply must do everything in their power to destroy this one particular arm."

Piper was also glad to have her family back together, but their childish and competitive banter was surely nothing she had missed. "Would you two knock it off. You're acting like children."

Chris pointed to the baby in her arms, "Well, in my defense, technically, I am a child."

Phoebe grinned and agreed, "He's got you there, Piper."

Piper sucked her teeth and pushed past them, "Oh, grow up."

"Well, technically I--"

Piper spun around and held her finger up to silence him, "Aah! Not another word, mister. Now get a move on, all of you! I've got to go and coax my son out of hiding." She called up from the bottom of the steps, "Sheila, thanks for watching the boys for me." Winking at the eight-year old, "Robbie, just call me when you want to come over to get that--comic book we talked about, ok?"

Robbie's eyes lit up and understood her secret code for the ice-cream, "Sure Aunt Piper. I can't wait!"

Piper smiled at him before she turned to her family again in frustration, "Move it people!"

Her husband looked around hesitantly, not wanting to be the one to point out her position, which was currently by the front door. But when no one else seemed willing to either test her patience by correcting her, he finally mumbled.

"Well, Piper. You're kind of blocking the exit."

Paige looked past her sister and glanced at the front door with disgust. The manor was several blocks away. She stared down at her high-heeled sandals, "Why don't we just orb?"

"Because we walked—well, ran—over here," Leo explained. "And if someone noticed all of us entering, then we have to be seen exiting."

Paige took Phoebe's hand cheerfully, "Not us. We orbed here."

Piper rolled her eyes as her sisters disappeared in sparkling blue and white lights. "Lazy."

Back at the Manor, Phoebe and Paige were already waiting on the landing by the Magic School door for the others.

Chris strolled into the house. As he passed Piper, he crinkled his nose, "What's that smell?"

Piper tilted her head and replied sweetly, "That would be you, dear." She held up his seven-month old self under his nose. "Here. Why don't you go and change your dirty diaper, while we go and get Wyatt." She handed him the baby and headed up the stairs, "And don't forget the powder!"

Leo grinned slyly at the disgusted look on his son's face. He borrowed one of his Chris' earlier lines when he left him to watch Wyatt, "Did you get that?"

Chris held the squirming child at arms length, "You have "got" to be kidding me."

Before they left, Paige couldn't resist ribbing him either, "Oh come on, Chris. I'm sure you've wiped your own behind before?"

Piper turned to give further instructions for her youngest son to baby-sit--well--her youngest son. "One more thing honey? When you change his diaper? Don't stand directly in front of him. Or you "will" be sorry. Good luck!"

Chris looked panicked, "Wait! Your not seriously gonna' leave me here alone with--" His voice fell off as the door shut behind them. "...him"

Orbing upstairs to the nursery, his disgusted voice could be heard echoing throughout the house, "OH MY…! WHAT IS MOM FEEDING ME!"

Leo scanned the Magic School foyer for Wyatt while he questioned his wife, "Do you think it was a good idea to leave those two alone together?"

Piper flicked her wrist assuredly, "Oh sure. Who better to watch Chris than Chris? If he screws up, he would be the one to feel it. So I know he'll take extra good care of him."

One of the teachers approached and greeted them, "Hello--Piper, Paige, Phoebe. Leo--I was so sorry to hear about your Elder status. We really miss having you around."

Leo uncharacteristically grew angry, "My Elder status? What about the fact that Gideon murdered my son? Not sorry to hear about that?"

Piper placed her hand on his arm to calm him, "Honey, remember why we're here…"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to lash out at you, Janette. I guess that's still a sore spot for me. Thank you for your concern, though."

Janette looked rather uncomfortable after his outburst, "Yes, well, uh. It's good to have you back. What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for our son. We know he's here. You see, he got scared by a demon and orbed here to hide."

Janette looked proud, "Well if he came here looking for a safe haven, then he came to the right place. Magic School is prided on being a safe and creative outlet for young magical creatures such as your son. We pride ourselves on keeping out any evil doers and dark magic that could harm or sway the children. I know that is a big concern for the Halliwell family…"

Phoebe whispered to Paige, "She sounds like a walking advertisement for boarding school."

"Yeah, and if we hadn't had our heads lopped off in this very room, I might actually believe her." the youngest witch retorted.

Piper grew impatient with the teacher's sales pitch, "That's nice. Now can you help us find Wyatt or do we have to storm every classroom?"

Janette bristled and responded in kind, "Well. I guess I could contact all of the teachers to have them be on the lookout for him." She stomped away irritably.

"Paige? Can you sense him?"

"I tried, but he keeps moving. It's like, every time I get a lock on him, he runs because he knows we're looking for him."

One of the other teachers came running up to them excitedly, "We found him! He's in with the older kids. But he may not stay for long, he's been on the move. Come on, it's right down this hall."

Everyone ran and skidded to a halt just outside of the classroom.

"Ok. Who does he feel the least threatened from?"

Paige and Phoebe seemed to agree, "Leo."

Paige clapped him on his back in encouragement. "Go for it, Dad."

Leo nodded and entered cautiously, "Wy? Are you in here?"

One of the teenagers pointed to a desk on the side of the room and whispered, "He's under there"

"Wy? It's Daddy. Will you come out for Daddy?"

Slowly and warily, Wyatt crawled out from under the desk, his chest heaving furiously, face in a pout.

Leo recognized that look. The look that told him that any minute, his son was about to let out a scream and start pouring on the tears. He scooped him up quickly and held the child to him tightly, hoping to head off his hysterical fit before it started. Because once it did, it was extremely difficult to bring it to an end. "Shhh. You're ok, buddy. Daddy's got you. You're safe now."

After awhile of rocking and talking softly to him, Leo asked, "Mommy's waiting for you. She loves you, you know? We all do. Your mom, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige, and your little brother Chris. Even your big brother Chris loves you. Are you ready to come home with us now?"

Wyatt nodded against his chest as he held on tightly to his shirt with his tiny fingers.

Piper was in tears when she saw them emerge. She rushed over and kissed Wyatt on his head, "Wyatt, honey. I'm so sorry if Mommy scared you. I love you sweetie." She looked at Leo tenderly for "rescuing" their son. "Come on. Let's go home." She grabbed Wyatt's fingers and played with them during their entire walk back to the manor. She was surprised that he allowed her to hold him at all, even with Leo carrying him. But she was glad for the progress. She only hoped that he didn't bolt again when he saw Chris.

TBC...


	6. One More TimeChapter 6

One More Time - Chapter 6

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Everyone was quiet as they traipsed back through the Magic School door into the Manor.

Paige motioned to the toddler clinging to Leo's shirt, "I hope we don't have to go looking for him again."

Leo tried to pry Wyatt's fingers from his shirt collar, "I'm going to go put him down for a nap. Maybe he'll be calmer later after he's rested for a bit."

Piper smiled knowingly, "You mean before he gets a look at Chris?"

Leo grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess that is what I meant. Paige? Can you orb upstairs and make sure Chris isn't in the nursery?"

Paige nodded as she was about to orb out, but Piper called her back.

Piper clapped her hands with a wide grin, "Wait, I'll come with you. Cause I just can't _wait _to see to see how the big baby handled the little baby."

Phoebe's eyes lit up as she grabbed Paige's other hand, "Ooh. Me too, me too."

_Upstairs……_

Piper stood in the doorway of the nursery with her hands on her hips. At the sight before her, her smile quickly faded into a frown of annoyance, "What on _earth_ are you doing?"

Chris continued what he was doing and replied matter-of-factly, "Exactly what you told me to do."

"So, I told you to stand on the opposite side of the room while your changing the baby? And just how do you expect to get his little tushie clean by flicking your hands with a wipie?" She rushed into the room and pushed him aside, "And you can't even see what you're doing from over there---Move out of the way."

Phoebe and Paige covered their mouths in laughter at their nephew's inventive way of changing a diaper, while Chris stood back looking rather pleased with himself.

Paige clapped him on his back, "I've got to hand it to you, Chris. That's definitely a new use for telekinesis."

Chris smiled back at his aunt before turning to Piper and letting out an exhausted sigh, "Mom, stop fussing over him, he's just fine. If he wasn't, I would be the first to know about it."

Piper played with the baby's feet, causing him to giggle, while she finished changing him, "He's my baby. I don't want to stop fussing over him." She picked him up and bounced him in the air before she turned to Chris and pinched his cheek. "And since he's _my _baby, I can fuss over him all I want--no matter how big he gets…"

Chris groaned as Phoebe and Paige laughed at him again.

"By the way, your Dad wants to bring Wyatt up for a nap," his mother informed him.

Chris shrugged casually, "So. Why are you telling me?"

"Because Wyatt went into hiding the last time he saw you. I don't think it's such a good idea for you to be in here right now."

Chris' mouth flung open in shock, just as his eyes suddenly displayed a wounded look. His shoulder's sagged before he started to orb.

Piper pulled on his arm, "Chris, I don't mean you're not welcome in this house--I just mean that you shouldn't be in the nursery when he comes up. Just until he gets used to you again. Honey, don't feel bad--he ran from all of us. I'm not sure what's going through his head right now, but I think it's best to err on the side of caution. Don't you?"

Chris gave her a quirky grin in understanding, "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry I overreacted. Do you want me to move back into the club for awhile?"

"No, Hun. I don't think that's necessary at this point. We'll just take babysteps around him for the time being. You know, gradually reintroduce you to him--in small amounts of time."

"Chris, why don't you come up to the attic with me and we'll see what we can find on that thing that attacked the boys." Phoebe said as she held out her hand for him.

Chris smiled at her extended arm, "_Nope_. You laughed at me. I'll see you upstairs" as he orbed out and left her to walk.

Paige and Piper shared a laugh as they watched their sister spin on her heels in annoyance to exit.

She cuddled her young son in her arms. "Would you go and bring Leo and Wyatt?"

"Sure. Do you think he'll have a problem with baby Chris?"

"No, I don't think so. He was protecting him when that thing attacked. Although Sheila told me something very interesting about his behavior toward the baby." She proceeded to recite the story she herself had just heard earlier in the afternoon.

Paige's eyes widened in surprise, "Do you think it's just jealousy?"

Piper sighed, "I really hope so, Paige. I don't even want to think about the possibility that we were just too late to save him from Gideon." She choked back a sob at that thought.

Paige wrapped her arms around her oldest sister and tried to lighten her mood, "Hey, don't worry. It's going to be ok. Thank goodness that Chris came back, because now we know that we have to work harder to fix it. But it's not impossible. So don't go getting yourself all worked up. Besides, there's only _one_ emotional breakdown allowed in this household at a time. And Wyatt has the floor right now."

Piper laughed, "Thanks, Paige. What would I do without you?"

Paige tossed her hair over her shoulders as she looked back, "Probably have a much harder time finding the humor in weird situations like this."

Upstairs, Chris was flipping through the Book of Shadows when Phoebe arrived looking extremely irritated.

Chris stifled a chuckle at her expression, "What took you so long? I'm already half-way through the book."

"Well, if _someone_ hadn't decided to leave without me, I would have been here a lot sooner."

"It's _one_ flight, Phoebe!" He muttered under his breath, "Mom was right, you _are _lazy."

Phoebe thought she heard something about the word "lazy", but couldn't be sure. "Excuse me? You had better learn to respect your elders young man."

Chris rolled his eyes and focused again on the book, "Whatever. So far, I haven't been able to find anything about a demon with sharp claws that can stay invisible like that."

Paige and Piper walked in, followed shortly after by Leo.

"Did you find anything?"

"Not yet." He looked at Leo hopefully, "I guess there's no way to check with the Elders, huh?"

Piper glared at him angrily, "I wouldn't trust them even it there was. We don't need their help. We don't need anything from them."

Chris took a cautious step backwards. He glanced at Phoebe and nodded at his mother questioningly.

Phoebe pulled him over to the corner and whispered, "Don't worry--she's not mad at you. The Elder's are still a sore spot with her. We try not to mention them so nothing gets blown up around here. She's still pretty pissed about one of them murdering her son."

"But I'm right here."

Phoebe saw the hurt look on her nephew's face and tried to console him with an explanation to his mother's short temper. "But you've been gone for seven months. And we've had to deal with these bouts of rage ever since. Though it has gotten somewhat better since Grams came to see her. But all of that anger is not just going to immediately disappear now that you're back. In fact, having you home is going to go a long way in helping her through it."

Chris nodded slowly in understanding.

Leo tried to soften his wife's reaction and changed the subject. He addressed her while glancing back at Chris, "You know, Chris had an idea earlier."

Piper seemed to calm down with Leo's distraction, "What's that?"

"Well, it wasn't really an idea. It was more of a theory. I just thought that maybe _my _Wyatt from the future had something to do with the attack. Especially since it started almost as soon as I got back here."

Piper scoffed, "And risk hurting himself? Evil or not, I'd like to think that any son of mine wouldn't be _that _stupid."

Paige couldn't keep the hint of surprise out of her voice, "What are you saying? That Wyatt would go after your younger self? His own brother?"

Chris sighed loudly as the thought suddenly struck a deep cord of sadness in him. "I already told you. He broke the sibling bond long ago. But even then, I still used to think that there was just no way he'd ever try to hurt me. But after Bianca took me back--I guess that was just the last straw. He tried--and would have succeeding--in killing me if she hadn't stopped him. Now, I'm nothing more than an irritating fly on the wall to him. Something to be squashed. So yes--erase my existence before I can grow up and become more of an annoyance? That's something that he would definitely do. He would have found it so incredibly amusing to find I almost did it to myself."

His family closed in on Chris; everyone offering their own consolation as they scrambled to envelop him in a variety of hugs, kisses and gentle touches.

Phoebe was the first to speak, "Chris, we're going to change all of that. It's not too late for Wyatt, or they wouldn't have sent you back. And I can see how much you love your brother, so the sibling bond can't be broken." She held up her fingers with a small space in between, "Maybe just a teensy-weensy bit bent?"

Chris smiled graciously at his aunt as he was pulled out of his somber mood. He rubbed his hands together with a new found energy rearing to go, "So. What do we deal with first? Dad's lack of powers; Wyatt's mental breakdown; Mom's anger management", the last one earning him a hardened glare from the eldest Halliwell sister, "--or the invisible creep?"

Paige felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end seconds before her shoulder length hair flipped up of its own accord, waving as if blown by a strong gust of wind. She looked around at all of her family in front of her and glanced over her shoulder. Seeing no one there, she scrunched up her nose at feeling a hot breath on her neck, "Uh--I vote we deal with the invisible creep first…."

TBC...


	7. One More TimeChapter 7

One More Time - Chapter 7

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

Chris saw Paige's hair flip up at about the same time that the rest of the family did. He raised his hands slowly, "Paige--DUCK!"

Paige dipped out of the way just as she felt something swipe the air above her where her head had just been. She rolled toward her sisters as they all scrambled backward to confront the demon.

Piper raised her hands to blow it up, "Leo, get behind us and try to get out to get to the boys…"

Leo nodded as his eyes darted around cautiously before slipping out.

Piper started randomly blowing up things in the attic where she thought it may have been lying in wait.

Phoebe screamed as something ripped across her back and dug into her shoulder. She turned quickly to try and kick at the spot behind her where she was attacked but was thrown to the floor.

Piper was standing back trying to freeze or blow up whatever was swiping and clawing her younger sister while the empath kicked out and shielded her face from the blows.

Paige called for a knife and repetitively stabbed in the general direction that she saw Phoebe avoiding, but hit nothing but air each time. She was still trying when she felt herself suddenly flying through the air to crash into one of the potion tables after she was backhanded by the invisible creature.

Phoebe was panicking now as the blood poured from her newly shredded arms into her eyes, "Piper! Blow it up!"

Piper and Chris were aiming in the general direction of where they thought it was. Chris tried to move it telekinetically but found himself moving nothing but air.

"I'm trying Phoebe! Chris, torch it!"

Chris was frustratingly trying to get a lock on the creature attacking his Aunt, "I can't torch it unless I can see it!" He gave up and orbed in next to his Aunt to get her out of the situation. He leaned in and grabbed a hold of her kicking legs and orbed her downstairs, narrowly missing being clawed himself by the creature.

No sooner had he left Phoebe on the couch, he hurried back to the attic to help his Mom and other Aunt. His eyes frantically searched the room to assess the situation. He noted that Paige was still sprawled unconscious in the midst of the now broken potions table. His mom on the other hand, was backed into the corner receiving much the same type of blows as Phoebe had just gotten.

He shouted in a panic as he raced over to help her, "MOM!"

Piper was frantically flicking her wrists and kicking anything in her path even as her hands and arms were clawed vicious. She panted breathlessly, "Chris, stay back!"

As the scene unfolded in the attic, Leo raced down to the floor below to reach the nursery. He quickly swooped up his seven month old son in one arm and went to grab for Wyatt with the other.

Wyatt had managed to fall asleep just before the attack, and now awoke with widely curious eyes. He stared at his father with the baby in his arms motioning for him to go with him somewhere. He cocked his head in the direction of the ceiling when he heard things crashing and people screaming from the attic.

Leo stared into his son's eyes and seemed to understand what the child was thinking. His eyes grew wide with worry as he shook his head and reached out for him, "No--Wyatt! No you don't!" He cursed under his breath as his son slipped out of his grasp and most likely orbed to the source of his curiosity.

As soon as Wyatt reached the attic, the creature roared and turned it's attention away from Piper and Chris and charged at the boy.

Chris saw his mom lower her arms and realized that the demon had found another target. He turned to look at his brother, "WYATT, NO! DANGER---GET OUT OF HERE!"

Wyatt recognized the familiar command and raised his shield, but did not deem it necessary to obey the familiar stranger's other command to leave. He saw the creature barreling towards him and sighed a bit unnaturally for such a youngster, wishing that the others could see what he could see.

The boy expected the creature to bounce of his shield has it had done earlier, but was surprised as it crashed right through and tackled him before he blacked out.

To Chris and Piper, it looked as if Wyatt had disappeared the instant his shield was breached. They both screamed the toddlers name at the same time, waking Paige from her unplanned slumber.

Paige looked up to where they were yelling and realized that the creature must have gotten to Wyatt. She did the only thing that she could think of and silently prayed that her aim would not harm the child. She called for the athame that dropped on the floor earlier and hurled the dagger in the direction of what she hoped was the creature.

She knew she hit it when a few drops of blood dripped and it howled in rage. As a result of her assault on it, the air around the creature flickered briefly, showing the limp figure of the child dangling in its arms, as if he too was cloaked in some type of invisible shield.

Piper immediately tried to freeze the creature but her efforts were futile; while Chris focused on trying to combust the creature from the inside out. Unfortunately, the glimpse he received was not enough to cause it any damage, only surmise that it's form was apparently human-like. "Don't let it get away with my son!"

Chris held his hands up, "Mom--we do a double freeze--it always used to work. You and I freeze it at the same time. Maybe that will slow him down--on the count of three. One. Two--", he didn't finish as he was knocked to the ground and trampled over before either mother or son could unleash their freezes.

Everyone in the room scrambled to run after the creature spiriting the child away, but they couldn't see where it went.

"Did it come past you?" Chris asked her hurriedly.

Rushing downstairs, they found Phoebe lying on floor by a window trying to get up. She nodded politely as Chris reached down and helped her. "Yeah. I tried to stop it, but Piper said earlier that we should wait until we have a plan--so I let it go."

Piper was frantic, "That was before it kidnapped my son Phoebe! That thing has Wyatt!"

Chris backed away from everyone to distance himself from the emotional fluctuations in the room, as it always tended to hinder his progress in searching for someone. He tried to sense for his brother, "DAMN IT! I can't find him. Paige?"

Paige shook her head, "No. But that can't mean that he's--can it?"

Piper glared at her angrily, "No. He is not. We will get him back safe and alive if it's the last thing I do."

Leo came rushing downstairs after he had tucked away the infant in the cushioned baby carrier strapped across his chest. "Wyatt got away from me--did you see him?" He looked at all of their crestfallen faces, he knew immediately what had happened. "Where is he?"

Chris stood at the bottom of the landing and glanced up at his father, "I don't know Dad, but we'll find him. He's gonna' be ok, I promise. I didn't come all this way to loose him now…"

Leo's shoulders slumped as he gripped the snuggling infant tighter, "That sounds eerily familiar."

Phoebe limped over to him, "How so?"

Leo's eyes glazed over with a haunted look, "I heard that last time I lost a son."

TBC...


	8. One More TimeChapter 8

One More Time - Chapter 8

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

AN: Sorry I took so long to update, but I didn't realize it had been quite that long. But don't blame me, blame my teachers, blame my boss, blame anyone who prevents me from doing anything fun--like writing. And this is the last chapter before the end by the way. I don't want to hold this up anymore. So, if you're kind enough to still be with me, on with the show….

Wyatt awoke to find himself tucked under the arms of the creature. His head hurt from the constant bouncing of being carried, and he wished it was his father's strong arms wrapped around him instead. His big blue eyes watered as he thought of his father, who always carried him with such gentleness. He wanted to orb to him, but the creatures grip didn't seem to allow it. Maybe when they stopped, he would be allowed to see his daddy again.

Chris instantly regretted saying anything to his father at making him remember the day he died.

Phoebe noticed Chris' change in demeanor and grabbed his hand with a squeeze. As he smiled back gratefully at her reassurance, she then guided his hand down to hover over her injured leg. "How about it, Mr.?"

Chris flushed with embarrassment and spoke even as the yellow light emanated form his hands, "Oh. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." As soon as he finished healing Phoebe's gashes, he glided over wordlessly to Paige and healed the bump on her forehead.

Chris glanced at his father who seemed locked in a trance as he held on tightly to the infant in his arms. He wanted to take his mind off what he said to upset him earlier and decided to joke with him a bit, "Dad? I think I'm feeling kind of faint, cause I'm pretty sure you're suffocating the boy."

Leo looked up startled, "Huh? Oh. I'm sorry. Piper, why don't you take the baby for while. I don't want to hurt him."

Piper stroked the baby's cheek tenderly as she passed them on the stairs, "No, it's ok, Leo. Chris was only joking--you won't hurt him. I need you to look after him right now because the rest of us have to concentrate on finding our son. I won't loose him." She hurried up the stairs to the attic followed swiftly by her sisters and adult son.

Leo pushed himself off the steps as he snuggled the baby closer to his chest and headed for the rocking chair. He remarked absently to the child, "I wonder why they didn't just orb upstairs?"

Just as he bent his legs to sit down, the two disappeared in swirl of blue lights.

Phoebe looked around with her hands on her hips as she surveyed the destruction in the attic. "How are we going to find them?"

Paige bent down in response and collected a few drops from the floor, "I wounded it. There should be some blood on the floor that we can use to scry for them. Maybe even make a vanquishing potion."

Before Phoebe could respond, Leo suddenly appeared with a familiar jingle next to her. Unfamiliar however, was the way he landed, which was not on his legs.

Piper rushed to pick him up and make sure the baby was alright. "Leo! Are you alright? You orbed?"

Leo blinked in confusion, "We're fine, but No. It wasn't me." He looked down hearing the giggle from the child in his arms, then to the older version across the room. "Apparently that perceptiveness that Wyatt has runs in the family. I just mentioned that I wondered why you guys just didn't orb to the attic, and here we are."

The two younger Charmed sisters ran over to them excitedly.

"He orbed? He never showed us any powers before. We thought it would be a long time before he had them."

Phoebe pinched the boy's cheeks, "Awww, that's my little guy. He's so smart, yes he is." She suddenly jumped back in surprise as she asked Leo, "Did he just roll his eyes at me?"

Leo chuckled as he looked into the deep green eyes across the room, "I think they both just did."

Piper huffed angrily, "Focus people! We need to find Wyatt!" She softened her tone as the startled baby began to cry. Running her fingers through her hair, she turned around in frustration and bumped into her adult son when Chris walked up behind her. "I'm sorry for yelling, Chris. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't worry about it mom. I know you're just tense right now. Besides, I'm not the one crying." He looked down shyly, his eyes twinkling, "Did I ever mention that he's kind of sensitive?"

Piper hugged him, "No, you sure didn't."

Leo cleared his throat to get her attention, "Piper? The older one's ok, but the younger version here is not going to calm down until you come over here and show him that you're not mad at him."

Piper reached down a hefted the child into her arms. As she rocked him gently, she stroked his hair causing his eyelids to droop. "Mommy's sorry, honey. I didn't mean to make such a fuss." Turning to her sisters, "Can the rest of you get started on scrying for Wyatt and making the potion? I'm going to put him down for a nap."

When the bouncing finally stopped, Wyatt felt himself tumbling toward the floor. Luckily, he was able to use his telekinesis to lower himself gently. His head shot up at the voice he heard shouting angrily from the shadows.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING! I told you not to risk hurting him. Now get out of here until I call for you. WELL! What are you waiting for? Didn't you have somewhere else you wanted to go?"

The creature snarled and stalked off, leaving the boy under the watchful eye of the shadowy figure.

He quickly threw a potion at the toddler's feet, rendering the twice-blessed's powers inactive for the moment.

"Smile for the camera, Wyatt. There is someone back home who is just going to love seeing those adorable baby blues."

Paige asked her nephew, "I take it you still can't sense Wyatt either?"

Chris shook his head, "No. Whatever has him is blocking me out. At least I know now that it's not _my _Wyatt's doing. He wouldn't have kidnapped himself."

While Phoebe and Paige were busy making the potion and scrying, the doorbell rang incessantly as if someone was desperate to see them.

Chris started to orb, but Leo called him back. "No, wait Chris. That could be Inspector Sheridan or something. I don't want to risk anyone seeing you that shouldn't be seeing you. I'll get it."

As Leo opened the front door, he was surprised as the taller figure brushed past him angrily into the foyer. "Where are they?" he demanded.

Leo stammered, "Darryl? What are you doing here?"

Darryl spun around on his heels, "I asked you a question! Where the hell are they?"

Leo bristled and decided that he wasn't going to make any questions easy for the man, "Who might you be referring to?"

Growing angrier by the second, Darryl tossed his head arrogantly, his eyes narrowing. "_You know who_. Your wife; your sisters in law? You know--those _witches-_rhymes with another female species! Them!"

The blonde man's face contorted in barely controlled rage, "Wait just a damn minute there, _MR. MORRIS_! I don't appreciate you coming into _MY _house and calling my family names!"

Darryl snarled sarcastically, "OH, I didn't call them anything yet. But if they don't get down here right now, I'm busting all of them! Including you for aiding and abetting!" He shoved past Leo again and started up the stairs when he was pulled from behind, but he continued yelling for the oldest sister, "PIPER!"

Leo wrestled the man to the floor. As he sat on his back and pinned his arms to restrain the unusually violent man, he was silently glad that he remembered his military training in hand to hand combat. "What is _wrong_ with you man! Are you under some kind of a spell or something?"

Sheila raced in the front door crying hysterically just as the Charmed Ones came racing down the stairs at the commotion, "DARRYL! Stop it! It's not their fault! Piper, I'm sorry. I had to tell him. It came back…"

Darryl was seething when he stared at them accusingly, his face burning brightly with rage. "You got us into this mess, and now that thing came back and took _MY SON! _If anything happens to him, I swear that I will make sure that you all burn at the stake!"

Leo gasped in shock at the venom spilling from the lips of his former friend. "Darryl, please, you don't mean that. I'm so sorry--but we'll get him back. It took Wyatt too, and we don't know why. We're trying to find him now. So you need to calm down. Because, we can't even begin to do that if we're too busy fighting you."

Chris hung back just out of sight from Darryl, but peeked down to watch the scene unfolding. He looked from one adult to the other before finally settling on his Godmother, who looked strange in some way. He looked her up and down to try and figure out what the difference was when he finally spotted it. She was nursing her arm that hung at an odd angle. He sighed in realization that she had probably gotten it when trying to protect Robbie from the creature. He tried to whisper to his mother to freeze the mortals, but she didn't hear him. Seeing no other option, he ignored his father's earlier words of caution and orbed to his Godmother's aid.

Chris reached down and took her arm, "Aunt Sheila. Your arm is broken. I can heal it for you."

Sheila's eyes darted nervously between her Godson and her husband. Worry shone in her deep brown eyes at Chris unveiling himself before her husband. After he finished healing her, he squeezed her hand and nodded in reassurance, just as his Aunt had done for him earlier. "Did it do this to you?"

"Not exactly. I was trying to hold onto Robbie when it suddenly pulled him back from me, and I fell down the steps."

Chris gasped worriedly, "Are you ok? Do you need any other healing?"

"No. I just need my son back. Please find him…" the woman pleaded with him.

Chris held her tighter and kissed the top of her head, "We will, Aunt Sheila. I promise. We'll find them both…"

TBC...


	9. One More TimeChapter 9

One More Time - Chapter 9

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

In the warehouse…

The missing toddler watched intently as the strange man prepared a potion that bubbled out of the cauldron, mere feet from him. He blinked furiously to destroy the man, but nothing seemed to work. 'Where was Daddy?' Wyatt thought. 'Daddy could do it. Daddy would protect him from the evil man.' He tried to hide in the shadows, away from the man towering over him…

In another time… 

Wyatt winced at a sudden sharp pain in his left hand. He lifted it up to examine it closely, his eyes widening in surprise as he found the cause. It was difficult to see, but sure enough, there was a tiny red marking—a tattoo of some sort—marring what had been only moments ago a neutral flesh tone. It appeared to be a letter, but he couldn't quite decipher which one out of the 26 possibilities on the stretched skin.

He frowned in both irritation and worry, wondering if the Resistance had somehow gotten a hold of some his more unique technology to overthrow him somehow.

Lowering his hand, he nodded absently when one of his minions mentally requested permission to enter. At the lack of response, he huffed a moment later as he realized that they couldn't see his affirmation and mentally replied back.

Wyatt barely acknowledged the servants who had shimmered in eagerly holding up a digital camcorder for his inspection. "This appeared through a portal in the museum, Master. It is very old technology. We couldn't figure out how to work it."

He vaguely recalled one of his aunts having such a device, and Wyatt quickly dismissed his minions as he examined the camera closely before turning it on. From its mint condition, he knew that it was most likely directly from the past, or preserved very well. But the latter option was unlikely, given that he had forbidden anything that could be used to generate or distribute insurgence against him.

He growled as he watched the screen show his former second-in-command, Renat, who had disappeared without warning recently. He had written him off as a lost cause to the Resistance and quickly replaced him in the interim. But now he knew better. 'So that's where he went.'

"Sorry about the primitive method of recording, old friend. But here in this ancient past, it's all that's available. Just in case you hadn't gotten your memories yet, I wanted to prove to you that I do have--well, you."

Renat turned the camera to face a young, wide-eyed toddler, who grumpily sat cross-legged in the corner. Facing the camera again, Renat spoke, "You certainly were an adorable little child. Whatever happened?" he bellowed at his own joke. Settling down, he continued to speak into the camera, "Anyway, on to my demands--I'm quite tired of being under your thumb. I don't want much. I simply wish to have your empire. And I shall have it, or I will kill you while you are still a defenseless little brat. You are to return through the portal, along with--hmm, let's say 50--of the west legion hunter units. And give yourselves up. I will spare both of your lives (you and the brat of course) if you remain here--under my command as I build my empire. If you don't do as I ask--I will not stop with you. I will kill every last Halliwell in existence--including that time-surfing little brat you call a sibling. You have two hours to comply. I have also included a watch in my little care package that should be ticking away. I found a way to magically synchronize it with my watch here--so I'll know if you disobey my orders. Hope to see you soon, Wyatt.

And one more thing--in case you were in any doubt-- I've borrowed one of your wonderful little inventions. You remember the demonic brand that you had placed on all under your service? Your family crest, I believe it was. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was the one that would allow you to track the movements of all of your faithful servants--and punish them if they weren't so--faithful? Well, I've modified it to suit my needs--with my crest. Hold up your left palm underneath one of the probes scanners." He let the camera run long enough for the intended viewer to do as suggested before leaning in for one final message. With a feral grin, he taunted in a close up, "You belong to me now."

With a flick of his wrist, Wyatt angrily switched off the camera. Just to be certain, he held his hand under one of the probes he had created, grimacing as the digital readout confirmed Renat's tracer deep under his skin.

He paced in annoyance. He was smart. He could find a way to counteract the tracer, even though he himself designed it to have none. But he cursed inwardly, knowing that there was nothing he could do with it from here. He had to go back to the source of the problem. And that meant a trip to the past where Renat was waiting. He summoned the demanded Hunter Units and ordered them to the manor, knowing full well that if he should go alone—Renat wouldn't hesitate to kill his two-year-old self.

But for now, he could bide his time patiently until he could eliminate his problem commander. Painfully if he had his say in the matter. He watched as the last of his Hunter Units marched their way through the awaiting portal. He took one last look around, his wheels already spinning before finally stepping through himself. _No one beat Wyatt Halliwell at his own game. _

Chris had nearly reached the door to the attic with his family in tow when they felt the house vibrate. He held his arms out to keep them back.

"What the hell was that?" Piper groaned in irritation as the hall continually shook.

"An earthquake?" Leo suggested.

"Marching ants?" Paige offered helpfully, earning her raised eyebrows and annoyed glances all around. "Ok. Lots of marching ants…"

"It's coming from the attic," Chris whispered in a hushed voice. Creeping slowly closer, Chris led the small group to peek inside.

Everyone gasped at the dozens of brutish looking figures crowded in the attic, all bowing down toward a glowing portal. Eyes widening fearfully, Chris turned around and quickly herded his family back down the stairs. "Go! Go! Go!" he commanded forcefully, leaving no room for debate.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, he directed Paige to orb half of the group and they headed for Sheila and Darrel's house.

"What the hell was that?" Darrel yelled in a panic.

"Hunter units!" Chris murmured dazedly before he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. At the confused looks he got from everyone, he elaborated. "They're demons made out of Wyatt's own special little brew to hunt down members of the resistance—either exterminating them or securing their allegiance. Each one is different, with a combination of 4 to 5 different demonic genes. Meaning that they all have different powers, making them unpredictable and extremely difficult to kill. You vanquish one part of it, but you still don't know what the rest is made out of. There is no 'one potion or spell fits all' for those things."

Leo's eyes darted around worriedly, his military training having taught him to quickly assess the situation. "There had to be dozens of them back there."

Chris agreed, "An entire squad, it looked like. Probably about four-dozen or so. The good part is—none of them noticed us. The bad part—_none of them noticed us_."

Piper threw her hands on her hips, her son's cryptic reply further adding to her irritation. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"They were _bowing on one knee_. They don't do that. Not unless they are awaiting direct instructions from their leader. And the portal was still open." Chris looked around seriously, waiting for them to get his meaning. "And there's only one person they do that for…"

Leo understood immediately, voicing his concerns. "Wyatt."

"Yes. He's here. And if he sent those things—nearly an entire unit, Wyatt means business. It means things just got a whole lot more complicated."

Back at the warehouse…

Renat sighed gratefully now that the little whelp had stopped crying. He almost couldn't believe that the calm and emotionless Twice-Blessed-Witch had ever been so whiny, yet here he stood as a toddler, crying himself to sleep after he had marked him with the tracer. He despised all of the power that was contained in that tiny body. Well, maybe not despised—more like _coveted_. And soon, he would have all of the power the boy possessed at his fingertips to command at will. Smiling gleefully in anticipation, he could almost taste it.

A sudden, loud clamoring at the door made Renat turn and groan in exasperation. He hissed at the creature making so much noise, "Be quiet you imbecile! I finally got the brat to shut up!" His eyes widened as he saw what was tucked under its arms. Having already passed out from fright, Robbie bounced in the creature's arms limply. "Why did you bring him here? Now they'll be more likely to find us quicker, and we don't have time for this. Take him back."

The creature growled at him slightly as it shook its head stubbornly, wanting to keep its new prize.

He waved his hands dismissively, "Fine. Just take him and get out of my sight. And guard the Halliwell boy while you're at it." Renat grimaced at the creature stalking off into one of the corners, not even a mere shadow of the man it once was. The distraught former husband and father had been so depressed after Wyatt had murdered his family while he dared oppose him, but it had definitely proven beneficial to feed on that hate and anger the man held toward their leader. The potion that had made the man into that vile creature had only intensified through his desperate need for retribution against Wyatt Halliwell.

Renat had thought bringing him along would be useful, and it had so far. He may never have been able to get past the Charmed Ones without the use of the creature's invisibility and brute strength. But with the kidnapping of the other child, it only expedited matters. The Charmed Ones would have researched, gathered potions, and spells--armed themselves to the hilt before they charged in for a rescue of the toddler. However, the police detective would bring his mortal beliefs into the situation and push them into searching for their missing children much faster than they would have done in their own magical world. Bringing them to his doorstep much sooner than he had planned.

He glanced at his watch ruefully, hoping that his demands would be met long before the witches arrived. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he briefly considered eliminating the new boy and dumping him somewhere, but then the creature would only turn on him in a fit of rage as he had with Wyatt in the future.

Creature or no creature, after all, Robbie _was still _his son.

_TBC…_


	10. One More TimeChapter 10

One More Time - Chapter 10

by shjohnso.

_Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth._

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.  


Chris paced nervously across the floor of Sheila's living room, trying to come up with a solution. He kept muttering over and over, "I didn't think he would do it. I know he hates me, but I didn't think he would do it."

Leo stopped his son with a gentle touch to his shoulder, relaxing him instantly. "Calm down, Chris. We'll get through this."

"You don't understand, Dad!" Chris told him with a pained expression. "The last time I saw him, he made it a point to remind me that the hunter units were always instructed to pretty much leave me alone. But as of last time, he was rescinding that order—and if they ever caught me again, they were to treat me no differently than the rest of the resistance. He sent them back here to kill me!"

"Chris, you don't know that," his father tried to comfort. "Maybe he knows that there's something going on back here and that his younger self has been kidnapped."

Bright green eyes bore down on Leo's hopefully, "You really think so?"

"Anything is possible. We'll take things as they come along. For now, let's just worry about getting the children back and we'll stay out of the hunter unit's way."

Darryl suddenly looked up in dismay, "You need to get into the attic to scry for them, don't you?"

Paige pulled the athame out of her purse that they had used earlier to wound the demon and answered his question before turning to her friend, "We can do it from here. Do you have a map of the city?"

The taller man glared down at the younger witch suspiciously, "And what about that crystal thing? Don't you need that too? How the hell are we going to get back in there to get it?"

Sheila stared down at her feet guiltily before turning to the girls, "I still have the ones you gave me in the curio cabinet. I'll go and get it." Her husband grabbed her arm as she tried to hurry past him. She turned and scolded him defensively, "What, Darryl? I kept it for emergencies, ok. And it's a good thing I did since now we have an emergency and need to give it to them."

"We wouldn't be having this emergency if it weren't for them!" he yelled back at his wife, ignoring the uncomfortable looks on the others in the room who had made themselves scarce.

Shrugging out of his grasp, Sheila fired back, "If it weren't for them, we'd probably all be dead already with all of the demons that run around this town. They're family, Darryl. You don't turn your back on family just because things get a little difficult for you. Maybe you do, _but I DON'T_. And I'm certainly not going to raise my children that way. Now get out of my way so I can help them find our kids!"

Looking down shamefully, Darryl silently watched his wife get to work on helping the sisters from his place on the opposite side of the room. It was Chris who noticed his withdrawn behavior and sat down next to him, speaking quietly so that only he could hear. "You know, Uncle Darryl—I know it's hard being a part of all this, part of our extended family, but it does have its good points. For one thing, you're probably safer with us than all of the other innocents out there. And we have some really great family get-togethers." The young man smiled wistfully as he watched the flickering guilt cross the older mans features, "I think the picnics on the fourth of July are usually the best. You know, you've been my Godfather since the day I was born, and honestly—I couldn't ask for a better one. And I couldn't imagine growing up without you both in my life. Besides, I think I needed some discipline in my life and they're all pushovers. One bat of my eyes and they let me get away with anything. You're the only one who ever busted my butt for getting into trouble."

Darryl only replied by shaking his head and laughing quietly, thinking over the young man's words.

On the other side of the room, Paige was frustratingly trying to scry for the creature before finally dropping it disgustedly. Phoebe picked it up, "Here let me try." Moments later with no luck of her own, she handed off the crystal to her oldest sister.

Piper only got the same results before yanking her hair back in frustration. "Damn it! We already knew where he's been. I want to know _where he is now_." She looked to her son to try his luck, who walked over to her a bit calmer than she and her sisters were.

He held the crystal over the map, narrowing his eyes curiously as the pointer continually landed on Sheila and Darryl's house.

Piper grunted, "See, this is useless."

Chris stared at his Godfather inquisitively, "Maybe not."

The man shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "Why are you looking at me? I certainly didn't have anything to do with my own son's kidnapping!"

"I think that's where you may be wrong. Where _we're _going wrong. Think about it guys—this creature is from the future, we're pretty sure of that much. It's humanoid in form, and it pretty much hates our guts. It's definitely not in the house now. And we know we're using it's blood to scry for it, so there's no reason why it would keep coming back to the house since scrying only finds the current location of the blood's owner."

"So you're thinking that Darryl—"

Chris finished for his father, "May be the creature we're looking for."

The man in question jumped up in outrage, "WHAT! This is ridiculous. I'm human. There's nothing wrong with me!"

Chris quickly amended, "Not you right now. But the you from the future. When I went back, Wyatt told me that you and your family had been killed by accident by the Hunter Units, but then some of the resistance told me that they weren't sure what had happened to you. Only that you were suicidal when you went looking for Wyatt."

"By accident huh? Well if I was turned into this _thing_, then it must have been Wyatt's fault! See, I told you nothing good can come out of any of this!"

"Only in the bad future, Uncle Darryl. We're going to change it. But even in the bad one, Wyatt always held you and your family under his protection—even gave you a mansion in his complex to live in. The Hunter Units sometimes make mistakes, so it's possible that Wyatt didn't do it on purpose."

"Oh yeah, but you were so convinced just a little while ago that he had sent those things after his own brother. So what would make us any different?"

Chris stood there staring with his mouth gaping open, unable to counter the man's accusations since he himself had many of the same doubts.

Piper stood in between the two, her arms automatically wrapping around her son protectively. "Look Darryl, we don't have time to fight amongst ourselves right now. If that creature is you from the future, then you have to go with Paige somewhere far from here—at least for the moment until we can get a lock on that thing. Scrying will never work with you being in the same vicinity if you both have the same DNA. We'll bring you back once we find them. Paige?"

Nodding succinctly, Paige immediately placed her hands on the protesting man's arms and orbed them to another part of the world.

"Now let's try this again," Piper stated firmly.

Everyone present watched the crystal swirling around the map intensely, waiting for it to drop and confirm their suspicions. When it finally landed on a section in the warehouse district, Piper murmured, "Got'cha" before she looked up smiling proudly at her son.

Warehouse district… 

Meeting up with Paige and Darryl outside of the newly found location, Chris and the Charmed Ones stalked over to one of the windows to look inside.

Paige wanted to verify, "You left Sheila and Leo at home with the baby, right?"

"Of course. Maybe you should take Darryl home before any of this goes down too," the Eldest Charmed One answered.

Darryl pulled out his gun, checked the clip and shook his head adamantly. "Absolutely not. If my son is in there, I'm going to get him back and there's no way you're going to convince me to stay outside."

"Alright. Just keep your head down. And don't face off with yourself. He's a whole lot stronger and he probably won't recognize you. Just focus on getting Robbie, and we'll take care of the rest."

Phoebe was perched up on a crate trying to get a better look inside when she suddenly spotted movement in one of the corners. "There!" she pointed out in a hushed whisper. "There's someone else inside, and it's not just creature Darryl."

Chris climbed up next to her to see what she was referring to. He pushed her head down and ducked himself when the man spun around, but not too quickly that he couldn't see his face. "Renat."

Piper raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Ren-what?"

"Renat. He's Wyatt's right hand man. I know he hates Wyatt, and was always secretly trying to overthrow him. He even worked with the resistance a few times just so that Wyatt wouldn't have the upper hand. He must of set this all up—to find a way to get rid of him before he could take over. Maybe that's why Wyatt is here."

"How powerful is he?"

"Extremely. That's why he's Wyatt's right hand man."

Piper frowned. "Then this changes the plan a bit. I think we're only going to get one shot at this, so we're going to have to split up. We'll probably need the Power of Three to vanquish him, so we'll go after him. Chris, Darryl—I hate to say this, but you two will have to take Creature Darryl. Just throw the potion to make him visible and keep him occupied, and then after we've vanquished Renat, we'll use the spell to send him back and grab the boys. Do that fire thing…"

"You got it, Mom."

Inside… 

Renat cursed out loud to the sound of orbing, not the sound of dozens of marching feet that he wanted to hear. Directly in front of him, he fired off several fireballs at the retreating witches, all the while ducking and moving to avoid the blasts from the eldest one's hands and the objects that the youngest one kept throwing his way.

At the sound of the commotion going on in the center of the room, both boys awoke startled and backed into the corner further, shrinking away from the roaring creature that now advanced on them.

Behind him, Chris listened for the sound of the roar while he tried to follow the boy's eyes. Taking his best aim, he threw one of he potion bottles he carried and jumped excitedly when the liquid hit its mark. Now he had something to work with as he focused his telekinetic fire power on the creature.

The creature Darryl spun around angrily at the intruder, slicing at him viciously until he fell backward, knocking him unconscious before getting the chance to use his powers. With its arms raised to strike the prone form, the creature was barely phased when a succession of bullets tore into its leathery body. Turning toward the distraction, it extended its claws again at the man firing the gun. The creature growled in satisfaction as the man fell to the floor, a deep gash across his arm as the weapon skidded across the floor.

With both men temporarily out of the way, the creature Darryl spun around again in the direction of the crying children. Somewhere deep inside of him, he recognized the older one as his own, but the other, he recognized as the source of all his problems. A blinding rage overcame the creature as he charged for the toddler, pushing his son out of the way to get to him.

Meanwhile in the center of the room… 

The Charmed Ones were growing weary from their battle. He wouldn't stay frozen long enough for the three to finish the Power of Three spell. The sound of shimmering all around them made the women turn in surprise.

Renat was sure he could command the newcomer with the magical implant he inserted in the child version of his former leader. He demanded, "Nice to see you again, Wyatt. Now kill them."

"I don't take orders from you, traitor. That's right. I've already deactivated your little tracer, Renat."

Piper heard the man speak behind her, the voice sounding much like her husband. She turned, almost afraid of what she would see. The prospect of facing her evil son didn't appeal to her in the slightest bit. The coldness in his steel blue eyes even made her shudder a bit.

Wyatt strolled closer to his former second in command, grinning at the demon's discomfort. "I'm so glad you—_requested_—that I bring the Hunter Units. Now I don't have to get my hands dirty. You know what they do to traitors…" He warned his mother and aunts with wry grin, "I'd back up if I were you."

As the Charmed Ones retreated, the swarm of Hunter Units closed in on Renat, most powering up a host of fire and energy balls, while some even conjured a variety of knives and other torturous looking weapons. The women turned their heads to the terrified screams of the demon, his death more brutal than anything they could have come up with.

As the last of the echoing screams faded from earshot, the Charmed Sisters raced over to help Chris.

Chris closed his eyes for a second, silently begging his Uncle for forgiveness of what he was about to do. Extending his hands toward the creature that held his toddler brother in its grip and prepared to end the child's life with its massive claws, he focused his telekinetic fire on his future uncle. As the flames erupted from the creature, it dropped the boy to the floor unceremoniously and howled in pain. Still, Chris did not stop until the creature was a pile of ash on the floor of the warehouse.

With the child crying so hysterically, Chris walked over and scooped him up, cradling his head to his chest and whispering in hushed tones to the boy. "Shhh. You're ok, buddy. I'm not going to let anything hurt you ever again. I promise." He rocked him gently as the child gripped onto his neck tightly, unwilling to let go. 'This is a good sign', he thought to himself. He looked up to the sound of the footsteps approaching, only to find his mother, aunts, and a very irritated looking older brother with an entourage of demons following close behind.

A feeling of dread loomed over him and he grew steadily more nervous as they approached, afraid of what Wyatt might do when he got his hands on him. Within a few feet from him, his older brother began to change in appearance mid stride. The dark attire he wore quickly faded to light colored clothing; his unruly hair smoothed out and grew shorter and groomed. Behind him, the Hunter Unit demons simply vanished into thin air.

Paige commented in shock, "What's going on? What just happened?"

In amazement, Chris eyed the mop of curly blonde hair that nuzzled into his shoulder. By his older brother's sudden change in appearance along with the mysteriously vanishing Hunter Units, he quickly surmised that the future had changed. He had done it. Finally. He smiled in relief, stroking the soft blonde locks to comfort the child, "We did it. He saw that he could depend on someone beside himself for protection. He trusts me again now. I think everything's going to be ok now. And I didn't even have to get myself killed this time."

Wyatt looked around in confusion, "Mom? You look so young? Wait—what just happened? Where are we?"

Before Piper could answer, Chris jumped in and asked his brother hesitantly, "Um—Wyatt? You don't' have the urge to say, throw an energy ball at me, do you?"

Wyatt gave him a most curious expression, wrinkling his nose before responding. "Why would I want to do a goofy thing like that? Chris, what's wrong you, man?"

A large toothy grin spread across the young man's face as he spoke more confidently this time. "Ok. Now I'm _sure _everything is going to be ok. He would have never uttered the word, 'goofy' before and let anyone live to tell about it."

Wyatt shook his head at the strange ramblings, still not understanding. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his uncle lying on the floor struggling to get up. The angry red slashes on the man's arm made him hurry to his side. Extending his hands over the wound, Wyatt asked him, "Uncle Darryl! Are you ok?"

The older man was still in shock after seeing his future self get vanquished. He never thought that he would be capable of hurting an innocent—let alone a defenseless child. Yet his future-self-turned-demonic-creature attempted to do just that. That creature was blinded by anger and hatred, and that was something he never wanted to go through.

He was drawn out of his reverie by the gentle tussle on his arm. He looked up into the concerned blue eyes of his first godchild as the man hovered over him anxiously.

It was in that moment that Darryl realized that he had to let go of his anger toward the Halliwells. He heard his wife's voice echoing in his mind, _'They're family, Darryl. You don't turn your back on family just because things get a little difficult for you.' _Sure, things had gotten a bit crazy lately, but he remembered that he had always been able to count on the Halliwell family. And none of them had ever intentionally caused him any harm. He had just gotten caught up in something that they had no control over. But when push came to shove, they were decent, honorable people that he genuinely liked. People that he was actually proud to call friends.

With that thought in mind, Darryl offered a warm smile to the young blonde man helping him up. He spun around suddenly in search of his son. "Robbie?" he called out before racing to the boy crouched under a table. "Come out of there, Robbie—it's ok now. It's all over…" He slowly coaxed the boy out, checking him for injuries and hugging him tightly.

"I'm fine Dad," Robbie said trying to pull away, a little embarrassed by his father's affection. "Can we go home now?"

Darryl looked to the others, all silently agreeing before linking hands to orb home, "I think that's a great idea, son."

Back in the Halliwell Attic… 

Wyatt sat listening with rapt attention to his younger brother explaining where they were, leaving out many of the details of his brother's alter ego. He looked stunned, "So…I was evil?"

"The key word is WAS, Wy. You're not now. So it's time to go back and see what kind of future we've made for ourselves."

Sounding a little unsure of himself, Wyatt voiced a simple, "Ok." He rose to his feet slowly before saying his goodbyes to the younger versions of his family members.

As the portal began to glow, Piper found it difficult to let go of either of her adult sons. "Are you sure you have to go now?" she asked pleadingly.

Christopher planted a gentle kiss on her cheek before taking her hand. "Don't worry, Mom. We'll be ok. If things are good, I'll make sure I send you a message back. Just to let you know we're ok. I promise." He turned to look at his brother, who stared back at him just as hesitantly as he felt.

Taking a deep breath, Wyatt playfully punched his brother in the arm before walking into the portal side by side.

_TBC…_


	11. One More TimeEpilog

One More Time - Epilog…

by shjohnso.

Summary: Future Chris risked his life to save his brother from a fate worse than death—evil. But did it work? Or will he have to do it all over again? This is my take on the events that followed his birth.

Rated PG

Disclaimer—I don't own charmed, or any of the characters from the show, so don't sue me because I get no money from this.

On the other side, both were amazed by the drastic change in the attic. No longer was it stale old museum. And gone was the antique looking attic of the past. What surprised them both were the sterile looking walls and the masses of high tech equipment littering the room. The room looked to have been converted into a small office.

Chris wondered around the room in awe, his eyes finally coming to rest on a large frame opposite the desk. "Whoa! Wyatt, come look at this! I always knew you were a geek."

Wyatt scrambled over, grinning widely when he read his name on the diploma. He muttered through the words hurriedly while he read, _'Wyatt Matthew Halliwell…having satisfactorily completed… hereby awarded…degree of Doctor of Science."_

Chris smacked him on the chest and beamed proudly, _"Wyatt, you're a doctor."_

Blushing a bit, Wyatt tried to sound humble. "Well, not a _medical _doctor. A doctor in electrical engineering…I like the sound of that."

"I wonder what it is I do?" the brunette asked curiously.

Wyatt spoke calmly as the answer popped into his head, "Loaf around the house taking one or two courses per semester—which is why you're still not finished yet." He looked around the room, the sight suddenly looking very familiar as he tried to recall the new memories that came to mind. "I, on the other hand--design things…technology. I think I have a few patents."

Chris retorted with a lazy smile, "Keeping us all well to do. Somebody's got to be the breadwinner in this family. Now that I don't have the weight of the world on my shoulders, I think I deserve a break. "

Wyatt turned toward him seriously, "Well after everything you did for me, you've earned it. I'm not real big on mushy stuff or anything, so I'm just going to say it simply—Thanks, little brother. I owe you one."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to collect one of these days."

"I'm sure you will. You know, I still don't understand why I don't remember this other life?"

"They said you wouldn't. Who—or whatever it was that sent me back, said that they would remove your memories of that life as soon as it was fixed. Something about it being too traumatic for you and defeating the purpose of sending me back." He clapped him on the shoulder before turning to leave, "Well—enjoy. I've got to go."

Wyatt watched his brother curiously, his hips swaying to a beat only he seemed to be able to hear. He chuckled softly at the younger man, "Where are you going?"

Chris adjusted to his new life very quickly as the new memories floated about his mind. He winked at his brother, "If I remember correctly—I have a party to get to in about five minutes—in the Bahamas. Where there's surf…sand…and large glasses of strawberry daiquiri's with tiny little umbrellas in them just waiting for me."

"_Personal gain_," the oldest accused in a singsong voice.

"_Not for a whitelighter_…" Chris replied in tune.

Shaking his head hopelessly, Wyatt reminded him, "What about the message you promised you would send back?"

"I'll send you a postcard," the younger man saluted and orbed out.

Wyatt laughed heartily at the parting form of his younger brother. He pulled out the chair, scrounging around for pen and paper and began to write.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_(And Aunts Paige, Phoebe, Sheila, and Uncle Darryl)_

_I just wanted to thank you guys for all you did for me. We've arrived here, and everything is great. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I still don't remember anything except for what Chris told me, so I guess that's a good thing. I do, however, remember how much you've all been such a supportive part of my life these past twenty-five years. I think you'll be proud of me, but I won't say anymore than that—you'll just have to see for yourselves. Just know that there are many wonderful times coming your way. _

_All my love, _

_W.M.H._

As Wyatt prepared to seal the letter, a small photograph was orbed into his hands. He turned it over, laughing when he saw the image on the front. There in a crowd full of people in bikinis and swimsuits, stood his brother sporting a necklace of seashells, swim trunks, and carefree grin as he toasted a drink toward the camera. The back simply read, '_Having a great time…love C.P.H._"

He placed the new item in with the letter before creating a door to the past, placing the envelope on the floor. Flicking his wrists, he grinned as the letter telekinetically shot through the portal, and if he had aimed correctly, into the waiting hands of his family.

The end. Finally.


End file.
